Time Will Tell (Mesh)

The third post I wrote on this (hallowed) blog back in 2005 was about the Miami Heat, and Dwyane Wade specifically. Going way, Wade back, I found the fourth paragraph interesting:

LeBron? I'm not ready for that one yet. I don't want to go there. Ask me in a year or two. LeBron right now is still more tentative than Wade. He shoots the 3-ball better, but his drive isn't as smooth as DW, his J not as pure. But he's 3 years younger. Perhaps if 'Bron played a year or two in college and they were closer in age we could critique them fairly. But we can't. The fact is that Wade, in his second season, is simply the better player. Barring an injury on either side, it's going to be fun watching them both and debating who's better.

For me, it's been more fun in 2012 watching them play together, watching them win the 2012 title together. One thing is certain, though: Wade was the better player in '06, James the King Shit of Fuck Mountain in '12. LeBron's 2012 Playoffs performance was absolutely, incredibly, amazingly, abcredimazing. It was legendariblimazing.

As a Miami Heat fan, that's been both easy and, at times, weird to digest. I love Dwyane Wade more than I've loved any basketball player (John Starks is a close second). Hell, I named our dachshund, Flash, after him. When LeBron signed with the Heat in the summer of 2010, I was elated; who wouldn't want the best basketball player on the planet signing with their favorite team? Still, the question lingered: "How are Wade and LeBron going to mesh?"

Answer: "Sometimes hot, sometimes not."

Regarding the James/Wade dynamic, Bill Simmons made a salient point the other day:

Basketball doesn't work that way, for the same reason you don't need two transcendent lead guitarists for a rock band.

The one-two James-Wade punch worked against Indiana with Bosh out, but Simmons is right; someone has to lead, and someone has to defer. As much as I love Dwyane Wade, LeBron had to be the captain of the ship if the Heat were to win another title.

He was, they did, and now South Beach has another hero, a Superman to stand tall next to its Flash.

Woof.